Laboring for the State

Reviews / Votes

'Brilliantly argued and meticulously researched, Rachel Hynson's Laboring for the State represents a breakthrough in understanding how Cuba's Communist state established direct connections between the grand patriarchal project of national salvation and the intimate lives of citizens. Her analysis of the rehabilitation of sexual transgressors such as pimps, prostitutes as well as average citizens who questioned the merits and values of Communist-led redemption is as unique and refreshing as it is fascinating and convincing.' Lillian Guerra, University of Florida 'Laboring for the State elevates the literature on the early years after the 1959 Cuban revolution to a new level of sophistication and complexity. Based on a rich tapestry of sources, Hynson uncovers the 'unintended consequence' of previously understudied revolutionary campaigns. Significantly, Hynson provides a genuine intersectional analysis of Cuban history that never forgets or downplays that the island's push toward European heterosexual gender norms - the New Family - often came at the expense of black and mulato bodies.' Devyn Spence Benson, Davidson College, North Carolina 'Rachel Hynson's Laboring for the State is essential reading for anyone interested in how Cuba's revolutionary state established hegemony. In rich and engaging detail, Hynson tracks the state's systematic intervention into even the most intimate levels of society. We learn how conservative visions of the nuclear family, women's reproductive roles, and sexual deviance were central to the attempts to regulate and control citizens. This is an important and impressive book that will reshape how we think about revolutionary Cuba's origins.' Lorraine Bayard de Volo, University of Colorado, Boulder 'Rachel Hynson's new book, Laboring for the State: Women, Family, and Work in Revolutionary Cuba, 1959-1971, is an excellent addition to this growing body of literature that challenges both the chronology and the content of the Cuban government's own narrative of its revolution ... Drawing on varied and fascinating sources, Hynson has written a social history of the first twelve years of revolutionary Cuba, and explained to her audience how those years shaped Cuba today.' Anasa Hicks, H-LatAm '... cogently conceptualized and painstakingly researched ... an ambitious book that will shake scholarship on Cuba out of its complacency.' Michelle Chase, Hispanic American Historical Review 'Rachel Hynson has crafted a sophisticated study that highlights the Cuban revolutionary government's limited reach into the intimate lives of its citizens ... this is a richly researched and well-crafted study.' Tiffany Sippial, New West Indian Guide